On the hunt for a souvenir, Thelma and I tried to fit the GS Giants' sign into our luggage, but it wasn't going to happen

We'd also acquired a mascot...and it's in the right colours

Saying goodbye to various friends and some of the great people I'd met, I struck lucky. The guys at Twisted Throttle (one of the GS Giants' sponsors) felt so sorry for me in my European winter coat - yep that's right I've been sweating through all this intense heat - hence the multiple bad hair days and me looking not at my best. Anyway, Erik and the guys produced a Macna summer jacket for me, complete with all those vents and mesh that I'd noticed the Yanks in this part of the world have.
How excited was I and it matched Thelma

We were both looking a bit more spruce, me in my jacket, Thelma with her new tyres asI loaded up my panniers, bidding farewell and headed out on my own once more- after eight days with the GS guys, it was a wrench saying goodbye and returning to my solitary ride, I knew I'd miss them all. I'd especially like to thank Ian who organised the GS Giants event (I was joking about nicking the sign, honest Ian!), Tracey the Queen and Score Keeper and all the rest of the women and guys for their friendship and the fun we had. I'd also like to thank the BMW MOA Rally organisers who inviyted me to this great event and to Bill Mayers Saddles for providing me with a vendor's pass.

The guys at Twisted Throttle (one of the GS Giants' sponsors) felt so sorry for me in my European winter coat - yep that's right I've been sweating through all this intense heat - hence the multiple bad hair days and me looking not at my best. Anyway, Erik and the guys produced a Macna summer jacket for me, complete with all those vents and mesh that I'd noticed the Yanks in this part of the world have.

LOL! There's a very good reason why us Yanks wear so much mesh, it gets danged HOT out here!! I'd say my best riding purchase was my all-mesh summer jacket for the central California summers, without that I'd have given up the sweat-fest long ago!!

Look forward to hearing about the rest, loving your reports as always.

LOL! There's a very good reason why us Yanks wear so much mesh, it gets danged HOT out here!! I'd say my best riding purchase was my all-mesh summer jacket for the central California summers, without that I'd have given up the sweat-fest long ago!!

Look forward to hearing about the rest, loving your reports as always.

Hi Sarah
I think we don't really know the meaning of summer in England, recently the newspapers claimed London would be "basking as temperatures soared to 78 degrees"

Barely warm would be the opinion of many Americans I'm sure. Also I'm a bit cold-blooded and it takes a lot for me to feel too warm.

A big thank you to Stepehn AKA Rocky Dog for
a) Tracking me down at the MOA - it's a bloody big event
b) Listening to one of my talks AND restarining himself from heckling
c) Letting me use some of his great photos from the event

Thanks Stepehen, I owe you for all that

I was back on the road looking at the farms I was passing, which all seemed to be in contention for the Most American Farmhouse in the Mid-West competition.

And loving signs as simple as this

Yield??? That's not something you do with a vehicle, it's a wrestling term, or something that kinights used to demand in days of yore.

Despite my best efforts I'd been just about the last rider to leave our camping area- I must remember not to chat so much, this meant I didn't get too far on my day's riding...I'd been expecting to camp somewhere in Tennessee but my map is small and I somehow managed tobe in a different state, though on the plus side I did get an unexpected view of that archway thing in St Louis which I've heard about on the telly.
I ended up in and stumbled across a great camping spot, which I have to admit I accessed via a small footpath which was a squeeze for Thelma, but when I saw the view from my tent in the morning, it was worth it

I'm sure a real camp site would probably charge a fair amount of money for this type of location. Further round it became even more picturesque

Much as I enjoy camping, I was looking forward to a couple nights in a real bed having spent the past 14 nights in my tent. Humidity was rising as I went southwards and arrived at Fabrizio and Geoffrey's house in Atlanta, that bastion of southerness. The combination of a warm latin american welcome combined with legendary southern hospitality welcome was fantastic, some wine, great conversation and a comfortable bed awaited me. I also had a go on Fabrizio's BMW bike...

It looks a bit like Thelma without her seat and was a lot of fun to ride.

I stayed in Atlanta for a couple of days, my hosts were amused by my version of a GPS

Yep folks, that's right good old pen and paper (and a nice view of one of the dents in Thelma's fuel tank!) A close up of the pages, and apologies to those of you wincing at my liberal use of sellotape on the petrol tank, but a few adhesive marks are nothing compared to the the battle scars that Thelma has.